Murphy – A female inmate nearly died from an overdose last week inside the Cherokee County Detention Center.
“Intelligence thus far shows a controlled substance was brought into the jail through another female inmate and was hidden in a body cavity,” Chief Deputy Joe Wood said. “Hiding contraband in body cavities is now more prevalent than it’s ever been.”
Officials believe a woman smuggled drugs into the jail during her arrest, which was followed by a stint in solitary confinement. Shortly after her release into the general population, two females overdosed on heroin.
“Officers suspected her of being high two different times while she was in solitary, and actually searched her cell but didn’t find anything,” Sheriff Derrick Palmer said. “After they moved her from isolation into the pod, she wasn’t there 15 minutes before these other girls overdosed.”
The incident happened around 5 p.m. Thursday. Officials say one of the inmates lacked a pulse, sending jail staff in a rush to administer Narcan and implement lifesaving techniques. A female inmate assisted jail staff as well.
“She was clinically dead; if it hadn’t been for the staff giving her life-saving efforts, she wouldn’t be here,” Palmer said.
After the inmate regained consciousness, Wood noticed a female in an adjoining cell in distress. She was also having an adverse reaction to drugs.
“I have to give kudos to the detention officers and the nurse,” Palmer said.
“They kept them alive until the paramedics could get there.”
After gaining control of the situation, jail officials shook down the cells in search of contraband.
“We located some drug paraphernalia, but did not find any controlled substances,” Wood said.
“Our investigation thus far has found that inmates used a controlled substance prior to staff entering the cells to help the two inmates, and other inmates flushed the remaining controlled substances.”
The two inmates who overdosed on heroin were treated at the hospital and later returned to jail. Police say the investigation remains active and charges likely will be filed against the inmate who smuggled drugs into the facility.
Last month, county commissioners voted to spend $147,823 on a full-body security screening system for the detention center. Law enforcement officials say the body scanner will save the county millions of dollars in legal fees by detecting drugs and other contraband that’s being smuggled into the jail through body cavities.
“The body scanner also saves people’s lives,” Palmer said. “I’m hoping we’ll have it by the end of July. We’re in the process of writing policies for it.”